I love the gimmick of putting folksy shit in your music. I'll say that now. That's something I've always liked about folk metal bands and bands like Nile and Melechesh. This album is different from a lot of those types of albums because you don't often get an oriental feel to your albums, but that is what this band delivers on. I feel that Chthonic are a fresh breath of air in a genre that can sometimes feel a bit stale. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mayhem and Emperor, but there's something refreshing about hearing oriental music fused into my blistering black metal. The album does seem to drag on a bit after track 8, but what can ya do? I love me some tortured black metal sceeches and the vocalist does it so well in songs like "Hearts Condemned." Also, when talking about this band, the guitarist doesn't get mentioned enough, but he is a damn good guitarist. The riffs are really strong and catchy on this album and he even throws in a few sweet solos in case you were doubting him. Although the riffs sound a bit more mainstream-y then what I'm used to in black metal, but I'm not complaining. When I saw them live, they upstaged all the other bands they were with (Arch Enemy, DevilDriver and Skeletonwitch) and watching the vocalist, Freddy, play the hena was pretty magical. The standout tracks to me are "Hearts Condemned," "Sing-Ling Temple" and "Forty-Nine Theurgy Chains."